Russia has huge natural gas reserves, and continued exploration efforts are expected to deliver significant additions. However, progressive reserves depletion is seen inevitable thereby bringing into strategic focus major future expansion of the existing reserve base which presumably will be largely supported by unconventional gas development.

This paper considers the basic hypotheses under oil origins and discusses theoretical justification of matrix oil reserves in East Siberia which are confined to cavernous fractured carbonate reservoirs.

The author analyses the geography of hard-to-recover, or difficult oil reserves (heavy, viscous, high-paraffin, and high-resin crudes) across Russia’s basins and believes such reserves will likely be progressively favoured in future.